Rotary brush



Oc-t. 8, 1957 J. P. GREGOIRE ROTARY BRUSH Original Filed Sept. 3. 1953 INVENTOIL esEpH- P Geese/QE,

l xm 4 United States Patent C) ROTARY BRUSH Joseph P. Gregoire, Sherman Oaks, Calif.

Original application September 3, 1953, Serial No. 378,387, now Patent No. 2,736,048, dated February 28, 1956. Divided and this application November 22, 1954, Serial No. 470,481

2 Claims. (Cl. 15-28) The invention relates to a motor dn'ven brush suitable for use as a tooth brush or for other uses, wherein the brush is driven at slow speed by a small motor housed in a handle so that the brush device can be held in the hand.

While brushes of this type have been proposed, they are usually rather complicated in construction, and in some cases do not provide for ready replacement of the brush.

An object of the present invention is to simplify the construction of the motor driven brush device so that the assembly of the parts into a completed unit is facilitated. This is accomplished by molding the brush arm and its head in one piece and with three cavities, one of which serves as a gear chamber, another as a bearing bore for a spindle on the driven gear, and a third cavity providing a bearing bore for the driving shaft. The assembly is simplified as the gear chamber cavity opens at one side of the head of the brush arm and houses both the driving and driven gears. The driving gear is readily inserted into the gear chamber and mounted on the driving shaft, while the driving gear is held coupled to the driven gear by a bracket which is secured in position in the gear chamber. That completes the assembly. The driven gear has a non-circular bore and the brush has a spindle of corresponding shape, the brush being removably held in position by a snap coupling, so that the brush can be inserted in position or removed as desired.

For further details of the invention reference may be made to the drawings wherein Fig. 1 is a side view in elevation, partly in section, of a motor driven brush according to the present invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional View of the removable handle coupling of Fig. l, on line 2 2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an exploded view including an enlarged vertical sectional View of the head of the brush of Fig. 1, with parts broken away, the brush being shown in elevation removed from the head. Y

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on line 4 4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on line 5 5 of Fig. 3.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the motor driven brush device 1 comprises a handle 2 having an arm 3 which terminates in a head 4 for the rotary brush 5. The handle 2 houses a small slow speed electric motor 6 or motor and reduction gear, the motor having a cord not shown. The handle 2 has a square socket 7 for the square reduced neck 8 on the inner end 9 of the arm 3. The motor 6 has a driven shaft 10 having a tongue 11 which slips into the groove 12 on shaft 13 which rotates in the cylindrical bearing bore 14 in arm 3. Shafts 10 'and 13 may be coupled or uncoupled by inserting neck 8 into or removing it from socket 7. The square or noncircular contour of socket 7 and neck 8 prevent relative rotation of handle 2 and arm 3. The neck 8 is removably held in socket 7 by a spring pressed ball 15 in the handle 2 and which engages a depression 16 in the neck 8. Spring 17 acts on ball 15 and is retained by screw plug 18.

As shown in Fig. 3, the head 4 is molded with three i cavities, one of which is the bearing bore 14, another one beingthe gear chamber 19`and the third being a dead-end bearing bore 20 for the hollow shaft 21 on the driven gear 22, The outer end 23 of the bearing bore cavity 14 as well as the cavities 19 and 20 are accessible from and open at one side of head 4 at the bottom opening 24 of the gear chamber cavity 19.

The driven gear 22 has a non-circular bore 25 which may be square to removably receive the spindle 26 having a surface 38 of corresponding shape which is integral with the head 36 of the brush 5. Around and opening into the bore 25 is a laterally extending chamber or cavity 27 housing and concealing a somewhat U-shaped lock spring 28, see Fig. 5, which engages the groove 29 in the brush spindle 26, to provide a snap coupling for removably holding the brush 5 in position in the head 4. The groove 29 is arranged at an inner portion of spindle 26 where this groove and its cooperating spring 28 are concealed from view behind brush head 36, being housed within the bore 25 and within the head 4 when the brush 5 is in position in head 4.

The driving gear 30 is suitably fixed on the outer end of shaft 13. i

The arm 3 and its head 4 are a one-piece molding of plastic material, and preferably shaft 13 as well as gears 22 and 30, and the bracket 31 which retains gear 22V in mesh with gear 30 are also of plastic material.

The bracket 31 is a plastic strip having a central opening 37 aligned with bore 25 to allow the spindle 26 to be inserted in or removed from the bore 25. The lower face of gear 22 rests on and is supported by the bracket 31. One end of bracket 31 has an inwardly extending arm 32 which bears against the transverse wall 33 of gear chamber 19, while the other end of bracket 31 has an inclined inwardly extending arm 34 which bears against the inclined wall 35. Bracket 31 is thus mounted and concealed in the gear member 19. The arms 32 and 34 are cemented to their adjacent walls.

In assemblying the parts, the shaft 13 is mounted in its bore 14 and the driving gear 30 is inserted into the gear chamber 19 and mounted on shaft 13 and xed thereto by cement or otherwise. The driven gear 22 is inserted in position shown in Fig. 3, in mesh with gear 30 with bracket 31 on it and with plastic cement on arms 32 and 34 to hold bracket 31 in position and thereby support gear 22 in driven relation with gear 30. The head 4 is now in condition to removably receive the brush 5. The

opening 24 is circular and of a depth to receive and house the head 36 of the brush 5, so that the head 36 is not visible when the brush is mounted in position as shown in Fig. 1. The gear chamber cavity 19 performs three functions, it admits gear 30 edgewise for assembly on its shaft 13, it admits and conceals bracket 31 and its Va shaft in said arm, said head having a gear chamber and a dead end bearing bore opening into said gear chamber, a gear in said chamber on said shaft and a cooperating gear in said chamber, a bracket in said chamber, said chamber having opposite walls, said bracketfhaving arms secured to said walls, said cooperating gear resting on said bracket, said bracket retaining said cooperating gear in said chamber, said cooperating gear having a hollow Patented Oct. 8, 1957` said openings into saidnonircular bore fand aj snapv coupling in said. cooperating' gear between said spindle and said cooperating gear, said ,snap-,coupling comprising a cavity in said hollow shaftrand opening `into its non-circular bore `and Ya lockvspring in said cavity, said spindle having a cooperating groove for said lock spring.

2. A rotary brush device comprising a unitary molding of plasticmaterial-having a bearing Vbore cavity, a gear chamber cavity opening into one end ofl said lirst cavity, and a dead end bearing borecavity opening into said gear chamber cavity,` adrivingshaft for said bearing bore cavity and adrivingV gear in said gear chamber on said shaft, a cooperating drivenA gear having ahollow shaft rotatablyftting inV saiddeadlend bore, said gear chamber having opposite wallsand having a cavity having an opening at one vsideof said head and a bracket insertible 'therein and iixed to the opposite Walls of said gear chamber and supportingsaid driven gear in mesh with `said driving gear, said 'bore of said hollow shaft being non-circular and a brush having `a. non-circular spindle removably tting. therein, said brush being mov- 2,808,602 f e A able into and out of said gear chamber opening to and from operative relation with said driven gear, a snapcoupling between said shaft of said driven gear and said spindle, said snap-coupling comprising a coupling member mounted in and carried by said driven gear and its said hollow shaft within said molding and a cooperating coupling member at an inner portion of said spindle, said brush having a head and said gear chamber outwardly of said bracket having a depth to receive and conceal said brush head.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,093,007 Chott Sept. 14, 1937 2,124,145 Merkel L July 19, 1938 2,194,187 Skinner Mar, 19, 1940 2,278,095 lRogers Mar. 31, 1942 2,317,314 VanI-laaften j Apr. 20, 1943 2,655,676 Grover" Oct. 20, 1953 2,672,634 Burnham Mar. 23, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 532,104 France Nov; 8, 1921 369,600 Great Britain Mar. 17, 41932 452,961r Great BritainV Sept. 2, 1936 1,023,565 France Y Dec. 30, 1952 

